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Amazon customers in major urban
centers have a new option for returning unwanted merchandise:
metal lockers.

For several years now Amazon’s customers have been able to
receive their orders in these lockers, receiving a code to unlock
their locker when a package is delivered.

Now, customers can do the same thing in reverse. Once
they indicate that they wish to return a product, Amazon will
send the customer a code to unlock an empty locker and leave
the unwanted merchandise.

In an industry where the return rate can be as high as one-third,
the new service is aimed at reducing return shipping costs by
creating a central pickup location that UPS drivers will already
be visiting, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The lockers, located in places like garages and grocery stores in
cities such as New York, Seattle and London, have
helped customers securely receive packages while out of town or
at work since the program launched in September 2011.

Amazon spent $8.59 billion to fulfill orders in 2013,
the Journal reports, and has been on a
construction spree, building fulfillment centers close to major
metropolitan areas to reduce delivery wait times.

Amazon will charge customers the same amount to use the new
locker return service as it does for returns dropped off at UPS
locations. Packages must be no larger than one cubic foot.